Once barely understood by the Establishment, today they are celebrated. They even appear on a Royal Mail stamp, a big deal in England. This weekend, the surviving MontyPythons(right) — John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Terry Jones, plus Yankee interloper Terry Gilliam (Graham Chapman, died in 1989) — reunited in New York for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, with a 40th anniversary screening of their Brit masterpiece, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and other cinematic entries.

The surreal comedy group created the sketch comedy program Monty Python’s Flying Circus that first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four years. The Python-phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, spawning touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and an award-winning musical. The group’s influence on sketch comedy has been compared to The Beatles’ impact on music. They coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Livethrough more recent absurdist trends in television comedy.

During a session with reporters Friday afternoon, the Pythons recalled that, back in 1975, Holy Grail opened in New York with free coconuts (which comically figure into the movie) presented to the first 2,000 ticketholders. It was a hit. But four years earlier, the Pythons’ first film, And Now for Something Completely Different, was a financial disaster in the United States, partly due to the producers’ meddling.

In 2005, Holy Grail spawned a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical smash hit knockoff, Spamalot. Written primarily by Idle, the production has an overarching plot and leaves out certain portions of the movie due to difficulties in rendering certain effects on stage. However, the same gags are there for the majority of the show.

They reign as elder statesman of cerebral silliness, these alumni of the comedy troupe and, some would argue, the funniest men who ever lived. My wife Laurie and my close friend Kenny Walter consider Monty Python and the Holy Grailthe wittiest flick ever put on celluloid. Like Camelot… ‘tis a silly place.

Now… RUN AWAY !!

Until next time> “never forget”

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 24th, 2015 at 8:22 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco.
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